The damage that online social media can do to you is becoming apparent

[kehlis]

Re: The damage that online social media can do to you is becoming apparent

46 is a lot of likes though.

Whoa! 46? I once posted a picture of my cats and got like 10 likes and thought that was awesome.

[ODogg]

Re: The damage that online social media can do to you is becoming apparent

Whoa! 46? I once posted a picture of my cats and got like 10 likes and thought that was awesome.

us older guys are hip to be square I suppose, as huey used to sing LOL

[MistaWartown]

Re: The damage that online social media can do to you is becoming apparent

But he's our hero...he's gonna take pollution down to zero.

Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Tapatalk

:Bad guy kicks some sand in Captain Planets direction:

Captain Planet: "AHHH.......TOXINS"

:Captain Planet is out of commission the rest of the episode:

[JoshC1977]

Re: The damage that online social media can do to you is becoming apparent

My story with social media wasn't so much dealing with the "addiction" but dealing with the consequences of the inherent toxicity of it.

I joined Facebook many moons ago; merely as a way of connecting to old college friends. Never really did much with it (thankfully).

But I did join Twitter a few years ago and over time, ramped-up my usage of it. Most of the stuff I followed was gaming (and specifically, sports gaming related). I also was heavily engaged on Twitch (which I also consider to be a "social media").

In 2021 I was becoming increasingly frustrated with Twitter. Basically, every time I logged-on to peruse my timeline, I was getting upset, annoyed or just downright angry. My mind would dwell on responses and on ways of addressing things - allowing the negativity to fester even more. Then the #FixMaddenFranchise thing happened and I saw good people morph into low-life lemmings. Many accounts were blocked during this time...and remain blocked to this day.

Later that year and into early 2022, I finally said that enough was enough. Folks were trying the same hashtag crap with MLB The Show (fortunately, it did not gain traction) and my Twitter timeline was again a cesspool. At the same time, an event occurred related to my job where my company was dealing with the spread of lies, anger, and misinformation on social media - the sheer amount of time wasted in dealing with it....ugh.

With that experience on the flip-side, the level of frustration/anger I had nearly every time I logged-on to Twitter became palpable and I knew I had to do something for myself. I began unfollowing numerous accounts, began blocking VERY liberally and began the process of clearing my timeline. I stopped following even official game accounts because of the temptation to read the replies (in spite of knowing what a cesspool they were).

My evolution on Twitch went down a different path. I used to love watching sports gaming on Twitch. But even with good communities, the toxicity got worse and worse. The sheer volume of "Look at me" and outright troll posts in chat (which would often force the streamer to deal with it - so yes, the disable chat feature did not help) just blew-up. So, again in 2021, I began a process of culling-out sports gaming streamers (unfollowing every one of those channels). Interestingly, what really pushed me was that at the same time, I was getting heavy into Twitch Music streams...and my goodness, the vibe was SO much better. Once I culled-out the sports gaming channels, Twitch became a much happier place for me (and actually helped me get through a tough time in my life - music does indeed soothe the soul).

These days, I'm much happier with my social media interactions. I have pruned it to a place where I get what I want and don't get upset every time i log-in.

[Speedy]

Re: The damage that online social media can do to you is becoming apparent

Interesting point about Twitch.

I watch Twitch semi-regularly since I don't have cable and limited streaming services. But I rarely interact with chat and the streamers I watch don't engage trolls and have a positive outlook even when they suck at times.

[JoshC1977]

Re: The damage that online social media can do to you is becoming apparent

Interesting point about Twitch.

I watch Twitch semi-regularly since I don't have cable and limited streaming services. But I rarely interact with chat and the streamers I watch don't engage trolls and have a positive outlook even when they suck at times.

If you're using the term "troll" as meaning those engaging in conduct that is ban-worthy, then yes, I'd agree with that.

Honestly for me, it's more the constancy of people asking the same bloody questions..."what sliders do you use?", "why don't you play ___ mode?", "which team should I use?"...etc. Then you get the "look at me" guys who just post random crap like "I pulled XYZ card in MUT" in a franchise stream; like....no one cares. Or then you get the "Did you hear about _____?" folks over and over and over.

I'm just of the mindset of "don't talk unless you have something relevant to say" and expect others to do the same (and that is quite antithetical to the online paradigm these days). Get the vibe of the stream before interjecting something.

The "rub" for me is that a good streamer WILL interact with the chat holistically; which generally means interacting with this crap as well (at least to some degree). I finally had enough of it after many years.

[AUChase]

Re: The damage that online social media can do to you is becoming apparent

46 is a lot of likes though.

[PadresFan]

Re: The damage that online social media can do to you is becoming apparent

I heard people are making good money on Twitter or X or whatever it’s called these days due to engagements/impressions.


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[nc0ffey]

Re: The damage that online social media can do to you is becoming apparent

Yelp is my preferred social media platform.